Posted on 04/19/2012 11:58:25 AM PDT by NYer
I saw an advance copy of a survey by William J. Byron and Charles Zech, which will appear in the April 30th edition of “America” magazine.
It was conducted at the request of David O’Connell, the bishop of Trenton, and its focus was very simple: it endeavored to discover why Catholics have left the church. No one denies that a rather substantive number of Catholics have taken their leave during the past 20 years, and Byron and Zech wanted to find out why. They did so in the most direct way possible and asked those who had quit.
The answers they got were, in many ways, predictable. Lots of people cited the church’s teachings on divorce and re-marriage, gay marriage, contraception, and the ordination of women. These matters, of course, have been exhaustively discussed in the years following Vatican II, and I’d be willing to bet that anyone, even those vaguely connected to the Church, could rehearse the arguments on both sides of those issues. But there just isn’t a lot that the church can do about them. No bishop or pastor could make a policy adjustment and announce that divorced and re-married people can receive communion or that a gay couple can come to the altar to be married or a woman present herself for ordination.
What struck me about the survey, however, was that many of the issues that led people to leave the church are indeed matters that can be addressed. Many of the respondents commented that they left because of “bad customer relations.” One woman said that she felt “undervalued by the church” and found “no mentors.” Many more said that their pastors were “arrogant, distant, aloof, and insensitive,” and still others said that their experiences over the phone with parish staffers were distinctly negative. Now I fully understand that parish priests and lay ministers are on the front lines and hence are the ones who often have to say “no” when a parishioner asks for something that just can’t be granted. Sometimes the recipient of that “no” can all too facilely accuse the one who says it as arrogant or indifferent. Nevertheless, the survey can and should be a wake-up call to church leaders—both clerical and non-clerical—that simple kindness, compassion, and attention go a rather long way. I distinctly remember the advice that my first pastor—a wonderful and pastorally skillful priest—gave to the parish secretary: “for many people, you are the first contact they have with the Catholic Church; you exercise, therefore, an indispensable ministry.” One respondent to the survey observed that whenever he asked a priest about a controversial issue, he “got rules, and not an invitation to sit down and talk.” Unfair? Perhaps. But every priest, even when ultimately he has to say “no,” can do so in the context of a relationship predicated upon love and respect.
A second major concern that can and should be addressed is that of bad preaching. Again and again, people said that they left the church because homilies were “boring, irrelevant, poorly prepared,” or “delivered in an impenetrable accent.” Again, speaking as someone who is called upon to give sermons all the time, I realize how terribly difficult it is to preach, how it involves skill in public speaking, attention to the culture, expertise in biblical interpretation, and sensitivity to the needs and interests of an incredibly diverse audience. That said, homilists can make a great leap forward by being attentive to one fact: sermons become boring in the measure that they don’t propose something like answers to real questions. All of the biblical exegesis and oratorical skill in the world will be met with a massive “so what?” if the preacher has not endeavored to correlate the “answers” he provides with the “questions” that beguile the hearts of the people to whom he speaks. Practically every Gospel involves an encounter between Jesus and a person—Peter, Mary Magdalene, Nicodemus, Zacchaeus, etc.—who is questioning, wondering, suffering, or seeking. An interesting homily identifies that longing and demonstrates, concretely, how Jesus fulfills it. When the homily both reminds people how thirsty they are and provides water to quench the thirst, people will listen.
A third eminently correctable problem is one that I will admit I had never thought about before reading this survey. Many of the respondents commented that, after they left the church, no one from the parish contacted them or reached out to them in any way. Now again, I can anticipate and fully understand the objections from pastoral people: many Catholic parishes are huge—upwards of three or four thousand families—and staffs are small. Yet, just as major corporations, serving millions of people, attend carefully to lost customers, so Catholic parishes should prioritize an outreach to those who have drifted (or stormed) away. A phone call, a note, an e-mail, a pastoral visit—anything that would say, “We’ve noticed you’re not coming to Mass anymore. Can we help? Can you tell us what, if anything, we’ve done wrong? We’d love to see you back with us.”
The problem of Catholics leaving the church is, obviously, serious and complex, and anyone who would suggest an easy solution is naïve. However, having listened to a representative sample of those who have left, parishes, priests, and church administrators might take some relatively simple and direct steps that would go a long way toward ameliorating the situation.
Dear Brother,who in the wide world of sports is denying this?
"He is pointing out what is most important at times. How you can not see that is amazing. Or just minimize it."
We do see it johngrace,I'm just not following how you go from this to no assurance of salvation.
This is also important,not "at times" but ALL the time..."This is the work of God,that ye believe on Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29)...so that "ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life"
Look you are just plain wrong.
I know the Holy Spirit without a doubt . I am not trying to judge I just hope whatever angle looking at in this approach Christ sees it right. I have experiences in the Holy Spirit , I know Christ. I did not get this idea at all.
I was in the Indy church movement. Nobody talked like this 20 years ago. They all believed in personal sins confession. This "calvinism or whatever it is" leaked in then took personal sins confession away somewhere. I believe it is very wrong just like John warns about being deceived in 1John1. You have to go to God. It matters period.
I am not a strident Catholic I know the Divine Mercy is soooo Good and Great. It is his forgiveness that gives us Christ. Always his forgiveness.
'So the only reason we confess our sins is so we can be saved' is what you appear to be saying johngrace.
What other possible reason could there be for it? Perhaps because it is deadly to us right here and right now and that confessing to one another helps us grow spiritually? Hardly a "dinner mint" johngrace.
3 John 1:2 - Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
I totally get that brother and God bless you for it.
I hope you don't see me as some sort of anti-catholic bigot johngrace but FWIW my motivations,such as I can muster,are because I love the brethren.
Well they'd better be anyway!
God bless
Obama has disdain for all religious folk...remember his comments about folks who “are bitter clinging to God and their guns”. Catholics need not feel anymore attacked then other Christian organizations; we’re all going to come under general persecution.
“I wish I could think I was one of His lost sheep”
Careful for what you wish for...such desire is usually a sign that He that has been calling for you...has you spotted!
“Looking at the uncounted thousands of Protestant denominations and non denominational churches, the answer is obvious”
The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; Proverbs 30:27
Now is it becoming obvious to you?
Catholics need to learn they are part of that swarm of God, whether they like or not...many Godly Catholics I know understand that already!
you both are correct. I shouldn’t let the spiteful ones make me spiteful.
please do remember mdmathis that these responses are not to you or to any of our fellow believers, but rather pointedly to certain persons, persons who have in the past called the Rev. Graham a spawn of satan when they are not calling us CAtholics the same name..
That is why I sense in my lifetime there will be a second American revolution coming. The seeds are bing planted.
When I see threads like this and some of the postings, it makes me shake my head wondering WHY Christians are STILL fighting each other?
I am always brought back to the Bible passage by Paul saying there is “one Lord, on faith, one baptism”.
as I pointed out to md, we Christians can debate, but there will always be the enemy trying to make us fight.
——Just how me the priesthood in the NT church... Show me the mass..show me the prayers to the physically dead..show me the assumption, show me purgatory, ..the fact is one does not need to be “infallible” to knw man made lies when one sees them.-—
Your question is based an important assumption.
Your assumption is that every Christian doctrine must be spelled out explicitly in the New Testament.
Where did you get this idea?
How do you know it’s true?
Ironically, you must be applying this principle selectively, since you’re probably Trinitarian, a doctrine that is only implicit in Scripture.
I understand your comment, there were several google links referencing that survey. Probably one with more specific information.
"But while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat and went his way." - Matthew 13,25
That's why so many have left the Church and non-Catholic churches haven't fared a bit better than the Catholic Church. The majority of non-Catholic Christians in this country are every bit as messed up and lax as any of the lapsed Catholics so many people love to point at. Those who worship their Most High and Holy Self and constantly repeat outright lies aren't fooling anyone. Their little anti-Catholic games work hand in glove with the Secular Humanists in the King Barry crowd just like all the other disinformation and lies from the antiChrist crowd do.
There are a lot of folks who can't focus on anything but that they're not Catholic and lot of Catholics who can't seem to understand that it isn't all of their fellow Christians who are attacking the Catholic Church. The longer it takes for Christians in this country to unite and focus on Christ and Him crucified rather than on what divides them the more painful our return to being a Christian nation is going to be.
I have great faith Christ will exalt the valleys and make low the mountains and the way before him will be made straight. In the end, some may be thinking more Catholic, others more Protestant or Orthodox, yet definitely all will be thinking more Jewish as in the image of Christ Jewish! And all of his children will be like HIM for we shall be able to see HIM as HE is, having glorified incorruptible sinless bodies. No more tears and no more raising of fists!
-—I go back as a total Papist, lol! It’s the most beautiful, the most intellectual of the Christian faiths. It is very much an aesthetic with me, as well as a faith.-—
We need you back to help fight off the banner and balloon people!
I sympathize with you. But I’ve learned some things by sticking with our local parish. At our parish, the leading banner and balloon lady is also our hardest working parishioner. I imagine her aesthetic sense was shaped in the sixties. And our feminist, former-nun, DRE (sounds like a nightmare, right?) is dedicated, soft-hearted, and an adoptive mother.
So... I’m not sure what my point is, but there is something to be said for living in community. It rounds our edges. I’ve learned a lot. And had I sat out the last 15 years, I would have missed some unforgettable moments. I love my parish. Ok, I said it ;-)
Great point.
I think what often doesn't get taken into account when calculating membership numbers is how observant the "member" is. For example, in Europe there are a large number of RC's, but the churches there are museums. However, because people were made members before they were out of diapers they are counted even though most don't attend services regularly.
Also, in areas such as sub Sahara Africa, central and south America and Asia where we are seeing the fastest growth of Christianity it is Evangelical Christianity that is driving the growth.
Great point.
I think what often doesn't get taken into account when calculating membership numbers is how observant the "member" is. For example, in Europe there are a large number of RC's, but the churches there are museums. However, because people were made members before they were out of diapers they are counted even though most don't attend services regularly.
Also, in areas such as sub Sahara Africa, central and south America and Asia where we are seeing the fastest growth of Christianity it is Evangelical Christianity that is driving the growth.
Hah! I didn’t know they were called “banner and balloon” people! That’s so funny.
I sometimes go to the Latin Mass at St. Agnes here in NYC. Although the beautiful old church burned down, it was rebuilt as a replica. The locals all contributed to buy replacement statues of Mary and some of the saints; they are not as beautiful as the originals but they are very touching.
These quiet Latin Masses seem to draw a wonderful type of Catholic - some simply exude holiness. I find it very calming after the tumult of NYC!
I wonder if there is a way to educate your beloved parishioner in the arts? She sounds great and with a little tweaking, maybe she could become an advocate for a return to the beauties of pre-Vatican II art.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.